Framtiden är här

 

Apropå mitt tidigare blogginlägg "Framtiden är vår", där jag länkade till några inlägg på TH:s blogg. Vi kan väl hoppas att nedanstående är kraftigt överdrivet!  

"Tioåringar i raskrig på Älvdalsskolan"

Bråk skakar Älvdalsskolan

Ägd på älvdalska

Riksdagsmannen Peter Helander ÄGER talmannen i det här roliga klippet, tyvärr utlagt av knäppgökarna "Fria Tider". Språket i artikeln är förresten svenska. Jag har ju kommenterat älvdalsmålet tidigare, so here we go again!

Talar älvdalska i riksdagen, får tillsägelse

Strangest Swedish dialect, now on YouTube

I´m fascinated by the YouTube channel "I Love Languages". 

As far as I can tell, this really is Elfdalian, the strangest Swedish dialect, still spoken by a few people in Älvdalen in Dalarna (Dalecarlia). 

I can hereby confirm that it´s almost *completely* incomprehensible to speakers of standard Swedish. Indeed, some believe it should be regarded as a separate language. 

And if you ever get tired of listening to Elfdalian, "I Love Languages" also offers samples of Old Saxon, Faroese, Mingrelian, Classical Latin, Circassian and - wait for it - standard Swedish! 

The Moon is a harsh mistress

Tintin has indeed been translated to many languages, including Latin, Scottish English, Esperanto, Kernewek and Wallon de Liège. (They seem to have missed most Ural-Altaic languages, though.) If this trend continues, Tintin is soon going to be up there with the New Testament and the Collected Works of V I Lenin and J V Stalin. Make it so, young man! Personally, I'm eagerly awaiting an Elfdalian version of “The Crab with the Golden Claws”. And that's not even Ural-Altaic…

East of the river

This review is from: Liten alvdalsk-svensk och svensk-alvdalsk ordbok (Swedish Edition)

Lars Steensland is a Swedish expert on Slav languages who occasionally stints as an authority on a very different tongue: Elfdalian or Övdalian, the peculiar dialect of Swedish spoken in Älvdalen, a small area in northern Dalarna (Dalecarlia). Since many Swedish-Americans come from Dalarna, it's possible that some Elfdalian-Americans dwell somewhere in Minnesota, although I doubt they speak Elfdalian, known as övdalska, älvdalska or älvdalsmål in Älvdalen itself. The dialect is threatened even in its home region, both due to gradual convergence with standard Swedish and the fact that most speakers are old and rural. Steensland is a leading member of Ulum dalska, a group devoted to preserve this ancient language.

What makes Elfdalian unique is that it's virtually incomprehensible to outsiders. In some ways, the dialect resembles Old Norse and Old Icelandic more than modern Swedish, being more or less isolated since the Middle Ages. For a very long time, Elfdalian used runic letters – apparently, the last runic writing in this dialect is dated as late as 1900! Many people regard Elfdalian as a separate minority language, but the Swedish authorities have so far resisted giving its official recognition, although it does enjoy a kind of quasi-recognition locally, including bilingual street signs.

Steensland's Swedish-Elfdalian dictionary is a valiant attempt to bring some order into the Elfdalian chaos, the dialect being split into different sub-dialects. Different orthographies for the written language are also in use. The dictionary is supposed to represent a “neutral” form of Elfdalian, but naturally Steensland have his critics on this score. Apparently, words and expressions from “east of the river” are overrepresented in the vocabulary. The dictionary is also available from Ulum dalska, and a modified version can be accessed on the web. There, we learn that the Elfdalian word for dog-house is “rakkgard”, moose is “brinde” and gospel is “waundsila”. The Swedish words are “hundkoja”, “älg” and “evangelium”, so yes, the lingo is incomprehensible to tenderfeet visiting the old country. Somewhat disappointingly, the word for European blackbird is almost identical in the two languages, “kuoltrast” and “koltrast” respectively. It's interesting to note that Steensland also translated the gospels of Mark and John to Elfdalian.

Since this is a Swedish-Elfdalian (and Elfdalian-Swedish) dictionary, it's probably of little use to Swedish-Americans, unless they have a working knowledge of at least standard Swedish! That being said, I obviously have to give it five stars.

The Birch-Tree of Our Lord

This review is from: Alvdalska vaxtnamn: Forr och nu (Skrifter utgivna genom Dialekt- och folkminnesarkivet i Uppsala) (Swedish Edition) (Hardcover)

This is definitely one of the most obscure publications on sale here. Lars Steensland is an expert on älvdalsmål or övdalska, a peculiar dialect of Swedish spoken in Älvdalens socken, a small area in northern Dalarna (Dalecarlia). In English, this dialect is called Elfdalian (sometimes Övdalian). It's so archaic and unusual, that many consider it a separate language rather than a Swedish dialect. It was written using runes (when it was written at all) as late as 1900. The book is the result of Steensland's ethnological research in Älvdalen. The work is in standard Swedish, and is of interest only to hardboiled language students or local patriots, being a long inventory of Elfdalian plant names. It's also available on the web.

When I was casually browsing the material, I noted that Elfdalians use the local word for pear to denote potatoes; that they didn't like geraniums, calling them by an expletive or comparing them to fat women; and that orchids (of course) have fanciful names such as uärrabyörk (The Birch-tree of Our Lord). We also learn that cows are often named Lilja, which means lily in both standard Swedish and standard Elfdalian…

Five stars, what else can I do?

Mere Övdalian

This review is from: Studies in Övdalian Morphology and Syntax: New research on a lesser-known Scandinavian language (Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today) (Hardcover)

I haven't seen this volume, but since I live in Sweden and spent a few summers in Dalecarlia, I feel I have to promote it anyway. It's an English-language study of Dalecarlia's strangest dialect, here called Övdalian. Another common name is Elfdalian. In Sweden, it's usually called älvdalsmål. The dialect is spoken in Älvdalens socken by about 2,000 people, most of them elderly. Linguists are enthusiastic about Övdalian, since it resembles Old Norse and Icelandic in some ways, while being very different from modern Swedish and other Swedish dialects. Övdalian has developed in relative isolation since the 14th century and even today, it's so different from other Swedish dialects that many consider it a separate language.

Of course, whether or not a local lingo is a “language” or a “dialect” is, in my humble non-linguistic opinion, somewhat subjective. If mutual intelligibility is the criterion, Övdalian is definitely a separate language. I never visited Älvdalen itself, but judging by recorded interviews with Övdalian speakers, the dialect has essentially zero intelligibility to a speaker of standard modern Swedish. Had I not known it's supposed to be a Germanic language, I would have guessed that it's a very strange form of Finnish or Sami! In its written form, it's somewhat easier to see familiar words, but only if you pay attention…

If morphology and syntax of unusual Scandinavian languages is your cup of herb tea, don't let the price of this volume scare you, buy it today!

The Christmas gospel

A review of "Julevangeliet på Älvdalsmål", a CD recording. 

This is an absolutely fascinating recording of the "Christmas gospel" (Luke, chapter 2) in älvdalsmål, the most archaic Swedish dialect. It still sounds a little bit like Old Norse and Old Icelandic, but is otherwise unique. Sometimes, it's considered a separate language. Älvdalsmål (known as Elfdalian in English) is still spoken in Älvdalen, an area in Dalarna (Dalecarlia). Weirdly, Elfdalian is not officially recognized as a minority language! This recording was made by a folk music band, Jul I Folktron, and is also available for free at Youtube. Enjoy!